Indian hockey team need to cut down unforced errors

A still from Australia’s 6-2 win over India

It does not need a rocket scientist to understand that the Indian men’s hockey team has been improving in leaps and bounds since our disastrous wooden spoon finish at the 2012 London Olympics. Two semifinal appearances in the Champions Trophy (2012 and 2014 editions) coupled with wins over top-ranked sides like world champions Australia, Germany, Netherlands and Belgium in a single year – something that did not happen for more than fifteen years – obviously makes one thing crystal clear – all these performances were no fluke.

So what really went wrong for India in their 2-6 drubbing at the hands of Australia in the Hockey World League Semifinal Round in Antwerp? The team from the subcontinent made a plethora of unforced errors, especially in defence and were severely punished for that as the Kookaburras rattled up a 4-0 lead at half-time, virtually slamming the door on India’s aspirations of finishing top of the Pool.

Former India captain and centre-forward Jagbir Singh said that the defeat should serve as a wake-up call.

“Australia are a top side and they will make you pay heavily if you are guilty of making unforced errors. Against teams like France or Poland, you can get away making such errors, but not against the Kookaburras, who will punish you till death. All is not lost for India – they will have go back to the drawing board and work on avoiding unforced errors,” he said.

The two-time Olympian, who also featured in two Asian Games as well as in the 1990 World Cup, believes Indian can still take heart from that defeat.

“It is not that only India loses to Australia by a heavy margin. Forget the lower ranked teams, even other top teams like Germany, Netherlands, Great Britain have bene at the receiving end of such big defeats by Australia. Remember the 2014 World Cup final in The Hague, where Australia crushed the hosts Dutch 6-1. Let’s understand that Australia like to win big – they invariably win by four-five goals,” he added.

The Jaypee Punjab Warriors coach agrees that Indian hockey is heading in the right direction. “I don’t need to emphasize the fact that Indian men’s hockey is progressing – performances speak for itself, but to be able to beat top teams, you can’t afford to make silly unforced errors. If we can nip these errors in the bud we will do a lot better against top teams.”

Jagbir’s words of wisdom must be comforting for the national team, and the Sardar Singh-led side, as we all know, have the ammunition go beyond the quarterfinals or even the semifinals or perhaps meet Australia again in the final.